I’ve always been excited by using our knowledge of how our brains work to create better marketing, advertising, and sales strategies. That led me to write Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing (Wiley, 2011) as well as my blog Neuromarketing. I always emphasize practical applications, not theory. I’m the founder of Dooley Direct, a marketing consultancy, and I co-founded College Confidential, the leading college-bound website. That business was acquired by Hobsons, a unit of UK-based DMGT, where I served as VP Digital Marketing and continue in a consulting role. I’ve spent years in direct marketing as the co-founder of a successful catalog firm, and before that directed corporate planning for a Fortune 1000 company. You can learn more about me and my speaking at RogerDooley.com. Follow me on Twitter at @rogerdooley, or on Google Plus at Roger Dooley.

Marketing Lessons From Dog Food

What’s the hottest trend in the pet food industry? Oddly, it’s a new class of food items that require preparation by the human – adding warm water or even cooking it, for example. Writer Ellen Byron of the Wall Street Journal details some of the offerings in this space in More Pet Brands Target Owners Who Like to Cook Their Own Dog Food.

There are a few sound psychological underpinnings to this trend.

First, the relationship of pets and their owners has evolved over time. Today, in the pet care industry the term “pet owners” has been largely replaced by “pet parents.” The vast majority of pet owners refer to their dog or cat in terms usually reserved for children. Indeed, a study by Pew Research showed that 85% of dog owners considered their pet to be part of their family, and 94% had a “close” relationship with their canine pal. Cats lagged a little in close relationships at 84%, but still did better than dads at 74%.

Second, rewards reinforce behavior. If you have a pet in the house, you know that one of their most animated moments of the day is meal time. Rattle the food bag, and the dog you thought was sound asleep on the couch will leap to attention and make a bee line for you and the food. The dog’s happy anticipation will be evident, indicated by tail wagging and perhaps even bouncing with excitement. This display of emotion is a reward for the human.

Dump the food in a bowl, and the happy time is over – eating commences in milliseconds. A preparation phase, which the pet will learn to anticipate just like the food bag rattle, prolongs this pleasurable moment for both human and pet. Byron writes,

Companies are designing specifically for the “happy dance”—what the industry calls all the jumping, wagging, purring and pawing that hungry dogs and cats do when anticipating a meal. “That enjoyment is what the pet parent is looking for,” says Evelia Davis, vice president of consumable merchandise for retailer PetSmart Inc.

The prolonged happy dance isn’t the only payoff, though. The other reward for a preparation step can trace its roots to a deeper psychological need to feel involved in the process itself. Many years ago, when cake mixes were first launched, their sales failed to meet expectations. Based on the theory that housewives felt guilty about putting so little effort into baking a cake, manufacturers removed the dried egg and required that an egg be added as part of the preparation process. Sales took off.

There may have been some product performance reasons that helped spur the sales increase (see Snopes.com for a critical take), but marketers generally accept the concept that the egg step increased the feeling of participation in creating the cake.

So, as pets are treated increasingly like children, it’s not surprising that owners derive satisfaction from investing in the “cooking” of their food.

One more element driving this trend is the psychological principle of consistency. Humans try to avoid cognitive dissonance, characterized by inconsistent behavior or actions that are inconsistent with one’s beliefs. If a pet owner has been spending time preparing pet food for a month or two, to stop doing so would imply that was a waste of time. It’s mentally easier to continue taking the time to prepare the food.

One lesson for all marketers is that easier isn’t always better. In many cases, a little difficulty can actually be a benefit. Luxury brands know this – it can take extra effort to buy a luxury product due to limited outlets, long delivery times, etc., but the product is ultimately seen as more valuable and exclusive.

In his book Hooked, author Nir Eyal notes that one element of habit-forming products is that they require an investment of time and effort on the part of the user. (See Hooked: Building Value With Addiction.)

So, as you think about your products, making them easy to get started with is good, but sometimes requiring a little more from the user can lead to long-term success.

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